1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to lunch pails, and more particularly to a lunch pail having a separate, detachable compartment for carrying plate lunches and other articles.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the work world of today, we have come a long way from carrying our lunch in a brown paper bag. More sophisticated means of carrying lunches are introduced on the market each year. One of the major problems with current lunch palls in general is: most commercially available lunch pails have only a single carrying compartment with perhaps one small tray insert. Many people would prefer to carry a plate lunch, be it homemade or store bought, due to the availability of microwave ovens in work places. Most lunch pails of today are not designed to carry a plate lunch, but rather sandwiches, fruit, and maybe a few small containers.
Therefore, I have designed a lunch pail with a detachable compartment which can be used as a plate and to carry plate lunches while still maintaining the main lunch pail compartment for snacks, fruit, drinks, and other desired articles.
There are several patents which disclose lunch pails and connectable containers.
Ruiz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,690 discloses an insulated lunch box having an insulated base portion with an upper tray-supporting surface with side panels hingedly connected at their bottom ends to the base portion to define a single compartment. Each of the side panels pivot to a vertical position and are provided with a groove on their inner surface which is positioned parallel to the upper tray-supporting surface of the base portion. A food tray having a peripheral horizontal flange is removably received on the tray-supporting surface of the base portion with its horizontal flange resting on the vertical flange of the base portion. The food tray is covered by a cover having outer edges which are folded over the horizontal flange of the food tray. The outer periphery of horizontal flange of the food tray and cover is received in the grooves of the side portions when they are vertically disposed.
Clubb, U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,701 discloses a multi-vessel container unit wherein either vessel is used to carry ice and/or liquids. The Clubb device has separate vessels removably mounted one on top of the other and held together by hinged clamps. The upper vessel is uninsulated and has a vertical pouring spout of sufficient diameter to receive and pass ice cubes therethrough and the lower vessel is insulated and has an open top end to receive ice cubes and a pouring spout on the side of sufficient diameter to prevent the passage of ice cubes therethrough. The bottom of the upper vessel is received in the open top end of the lower vessel. An insulating cover may be placed in the lower vessel a short distance below the open top end to prevent heat exchange between the two vessels.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a lunch pail assembly having an upper member with a first food or beverage compartment for containing one type of food such as sandwiches or beverages and a detachable lower member having a second food compartment for containing another type of food such as a plate lunch. The upper member has a bottom wall, opposed side walls and end walls defining the first food and beverage compartment, a lid at the upper end of the first food and beverage compartment, a handle on the lid, and a fastening mechanism on the exterior of the opposed end walls. The lower member has a bottom wall, opposed side walls and end walls defining the second food compartment which has an open top end that is received within a depending lip on the bottom of the upper member. Catches on the end walls of the lower member releasably engage the fastening mechanisms on the upper member to selectively releasably connect the upper and lower members together to be carried as a single unit wherein food, beverages, and other articles of one type may be contained in the first food and beverage compartment and isolated from food and other articles of another type contained in the second food compartment. The upper member can be used independently of the lower member when disconnected therefrom. The lower member may be used to carry frozen dinners or may be used as a plate. A dish-shaped plate insert and cover fit inside the detachable lower member and are microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe, whereby meals, such as a plate lunch, can be prepared in advance, placed in plate inserts, stored in a refrigerator or freezer, transported in the lower member, and when desired, placed in a microwave oven for preparing the food contained therein.